Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees housing, told political candidates in an email this morning that the city will review ownership and tax issues with the Headwaters Apartments.

Fish's comments come a day after The Oregonian published a story about the Headwaters, the city's only publicly owned apartment complex that serves people making up to $97,200 a year, or 150 percent the median-family income for a family of three. Officials prioritized the 5-year-old project as workforce housing for moderate and middle-income residents.

Officials at Multnomah County initially granted a tax exemption for the property but later billed the city more than $100,000 because Headwaters charges market-rate rents. But the city threatened to sue, and county officials backed down because they didn't think they could win in court.

Fish declined to be interviewed for the story about Headwaters, but in an email sent this morning to Portland's mayoral and city council candidates, Fish wrote that the city's focus "is on the needs of low-income households, typically 0-60%" of median family income.

"The Headwaters is not a project we would undertake today," Fish wrote. "With limited resources, and a rising tide of need, we are focusing on meeting the unmet housing needs in our community.

"We are currently reviewing the Headwaters, to see if it still makes sense for the city to own it, and whether it can go back on the tax rolls."